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Jesus

Romans 5:8| “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

In our culture, we are evaluated by our performance. It starts at a young age for most of us. Some of us remember being rewarded for a good “report card,” while others remember being scolded for a bad report card. Some of us have memories of achieving in athletics, while others not so much. As adults, we are rewarded in our jobs through promotions, pay raises, positions, and praise. If we under-perform, the opposite is true.

Paul tells us that our performance is not what led our Heavenly Father to make a way for us to have relationship with Him; as a matter of fact, sin cannot be removed by good deeds. The reality is that while we were “still sinners” Jesus died for us. God showed us mercy even though we had not earned it. This is difficult for us to grasp because we live in a society where we get what we earn or do not earn.

As you are beginning your faith journey, always remember that your relationship with God is not based on your “good” performance. Relationship with God is based on our faith in Jesus who lived the sinless life we could not, died the death that we deserved, and was raised to live in victory over sin. “While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” This is one of the most amazing passages in the Bible because it reminds us that the love of God is greater than our lack of performance. We know that ultimately through relationship with Jesus we may have relationship with God. There will be days when we fail, but we have to remember what began our relationship with God and what will sustain it is His love for us which was shown through Jesus Christ.

Reflect:

• Have you ever tried to repair your relationship with God by good performance? How does knowing that you don’t need to earn your way to God change your motivations in doing the right things?
• Have you personally accepted Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins? If not, why not?